Addressing machine



' I 1927.. Aprll 5 J. E. JOHNSON ADDRESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 2 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. E. JOHNSON ADDRESSING MACHINE April 5 1927.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 24. 1925 dii'yi 1927. Apnl 5 J. E. JOHNSON ADDRESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 2 1923 3 Shee ts-Sheet-5 Patented Apr. 5,

UNITED STATES I 1,623,542- PATEKNT OFFICE.

JOHN E. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ABSIGNOB TO THE SPEEDAUHATIC COI- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OI DELAWARE.

ADDRESSING xscnnm.

Application filed January 24, 1923. Beth! I0. 614,510.

This invention relates to addressing machines, and more particularly to manually operated types of machines for addressing envelopes, cards or other objects.

' The machine comprising the invention is adapted to make use of address plates or mats composed of thin sheets of metal, each of which is embossed with characters representing an address or other information. A plurality of such plates or mats may be kept and stored in a group or stack, one above the other, arranged in the-order of the addresses on a corresponding mailing list. The order of arrangement, for example, may

be alphabetical, geographical or otherwise.

4 This invention therefore has as .one of its objects the provision of a machine, preferably hand operated, for taking successive address impressions from address plates arranged in order in a stack and rearranging the plates in the same desired order in another stack after the impressions have been taken. In certain instances it may be desirable to take more than one impression from certain particular plates among the whole group whereas with other plates only a single imression will be desired. It is also desirable in machines of this type to connect the mechanism for'advancing the successive address plates to operating position to the same operating arm used for making the im ressions. With such a connection, the ad ress lates are brought automatically into operat-' 1119: position when the impression arm is actuated.

Accordingly, another object of this invention is to provide a machine in which oneor a plurality of impressions may be taken from each plate and also to provide in the same machine a suitable mechanism for automatically advancing the successive plates.

For the attainment of the foregoing object,

means have been provided for disengaging the automatic plate advancing mechanism when more than one impression is to be taken froni any particular plate.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine possessing the attributes stated above which will be-simple and compact in construction, durable, effective and efiicient in operation.

7 To the attainment of the foregoing objects and to the accomplishment of other new and useful objects, as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of the mechanism hereinafter more fully described and shown in the accompananig drawings that illustrate a machine em ing a form of my invention, and in whic Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine constituting the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view substantially through the center of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of certain parts of the machine; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

The machine constituting the invention comprises in a general way, as shown in Fig. 1, a frame or base member A-- at one end of which an address plate rack -B is mounted, an address plate guidewa C-, along which the plates are' guide to the operating position'at D- where impressions are taken, an address plate receiving rack --E-,- and an impression arm --F which has mounted thereon a releasing button G-', the actuation of which permits more than one impression to be taken from any particular desired address plate as it comes into operating position at --D-. An ink ribbon mechanism is shown in Fig. 2 at The frame --A- is provided along its mid portion at each side of the guideway -C, with a pair of parallel grooves 10 and 11, which provide space for a pair of reciprocating mat feeders 12 and 13, which extend from the rack -B- to the receiving rack E-- and serve to advance the address plates along the guideway -C-. At a point beneath the rack B, the mat feeders 12 and 13 are both connected to a block 14 by screws as at 15. The mechanism for actuating the reciprocating mat feeders .12 and 13 is attached to the block 14 (Fig. 4). and consists of a link 16 pivotally connected to'l'ugs 17 and 18, formed on the block 14. The link 16 at its 0 posits end is also pivotally connected to ugs 19 and 20, formed upon a lever 21. The lever 21 is pivotally mounted u n lugs 22 and 23 and 1s opera-. tively connected to the impression arm'--F'- by a mechanism to be hereinafter described.

. The rack --B comprises a pair of up- 0 plates.

the back of the frame A at each side of the path of travel of the ends of the mat feeders 12 and 13. The address plates or mats are retained in position between the end members 24 and 25 by pairs of flange strips and 31, attached to each of the end memhers by any suitable means as by screws 32.

Address plates 33 (Fig. 2) are stacked in the rack -B in the order which is desired for their use in the mailing list' and when the mat feeders 12 and 13 are in their normal, forward position all the address mats in the rack B restupon the top of a pair of pawls 34 and 35 fixed at the ends of the mat feeders 12 and 13.

When the mat feeders 12 and 13'are reciprocated and travel to the right from the position shown in Fig. 2, the lower address mat is permitted to slide off from the fixed I pawls 34 and 35 on to the top of the mat feeders 12 and 13. The succeeding address plates or mats are all retained in the rack B by the flexible arms 36 and 37, each of which is provided with a struck-up portion as at 38 for sliding under the stack of address plates but over the lowerv plate which is to be released. The fiexiblestrips 36 and 37 are also provided at their lower ends with extensions as at 39,'for engage-' mentwith pins 40, one of which is mounted upon the side of each of the mat feeders 12 and 13. As the mat feeders travel to the right in Fig. 2, the pins which are normally in engagement with the extensions 39 and which thus normally hold the flexible strips 36 and 37 in their inactive positions, will also travel to the right thus releasing the strips 36 and 37, permitting the struckup portions 38 to engage the stack of address.

After the mat feeders 12 and 13 have completed a single complete stroke, the' pins 40 will have again contacted with the extensions 39, thus withdrawing the strips 36 and 37 and permitting the stack of plates to drop through a distance equal to the thickness of a single plate.

The lower address plate 33 whichhas been slid from the fixed pawls 34 and 35 will be advanced by contact with the ends of the pawls 34fand 35 and will ride upon a stop plate 41. The stop plate 41 is one of a series of similar stop plates 41*, 41", etc., which are fastened in any suitable manner, as by screws 42 to the frame -A within the address plate guideway C.

The mat feeders 12 and 13 are provided with a pluralit of pivoted pawls, as at 43 for advancing t 1e address plates step by step between successive stop lates 41, 41, etc. The pawls 43 are pivota ly mounte v upon pins 44 within slots 45 formed along the plates.

upper edge of the mat feeders 12 and 13. The pawls 43 are normally held in their ac- .tive elevated position (Fig. 4) by coil springs 46. The upward movement of the pawls is limited by contact between the bottom of the grooves and the lower ends of the pawls. The coil springs 46 are held in place within recesses 47 formed within the slots 45. Upon the return stroke of the mat feeders l2 and 13 the pawls 43 are depressed by contacting with the lower surfaces of the address plates. Because of the effect of the coil springs 46, the pawls 43 may at times,

meet with considerable frictional resistance with the under side of the address plates and hence as the address plates advance along the guideway -C, they are held against any possible backward movement resulting from friction with the pawls 43, by the stop It will be noted that the surfaces of the. stop plates have a contour somewhat approximating that of the address plates in general form, edges 48 of the stop plates being adapted to engage longitudinal grooves 49 formed along the edges of the address plates. The address plates are retained in the guideway -C' against u'pward movement by flanges 10 and 11. (Fig. 5.)

The operation of the impression arm F and the construction of its various connected parts will now be described in detail. An operating handle 50 is provided at the upper end of the impression arm. The lower end of the impression arm is pivotally mounted upon a shaft 51, which is retained in lugs 52 and 53, formed upon the frame A-. The impression arm is provided with a bearing 54 adjacent the lug 52 and a second bearing 55 adjacent the lug 53. These bearings are connected by a semicylindrical portion 56 formed integral with the impression arm -F. A member 57 surrounds the shaft 51 and is free to rotate thereon within the portion 56, and is retained in the desired position along the shaft between a fixed collar 58 and the bearing 54. The member 57 is provided with a lever arm 59, which is pivotally connected at its end to a link 60. The link 60 is in turn pivotally connected to the lever 21, above described.

The member 57 is provided at one end with a notched lug 60 having a notch 61, adapted to be engaged by a dog 62 pivoted at 63 to the impression arm -F. The dog 62 is normally retained in engagement with the notched lu 60 by the force of a coiled spring 64, whic h has one end attached to an extension65upon the dog and its other end attached to a peg 66, fixed in theimpression arm F. However, the dog 62 may be thrown out of engagement with the notched lu 60 by pressing upon the releasing button ,which is connected by a link rod 67 to the dog extension 65. The releasing button is pivotally mounted at 68 to the upper end of the impression arm F-.

The mat feeders 12 and 13 and the ink ribbon mechanism -H are both actuated through the medium of the member 57, which is normally fixed by the dog 62 and the notch 61 for turning movement with the feeders 12 and 13 will not be actuated.

Thedmpression arm F is provided with :1 lug 69, upon which a rubber platen 70 is slidably and removably mounted for taking im ressions from the address plates when the impression arm -F- is lowered by means of the operating handle'50. The impression arm is restored to the normal position shown after. each depression by means of a coil spring 71,- which is fixed at one end to the under side of the frame A-- and at the other end to ":1 lug 72, extending out from the bearing 54. t The s ring 71 also serves to restore the various ot er operating parts connected to the impression arm 1 mechanism to thei'rnormal positions.

As shown in Fig. 5, an ink ribbon 73 extends over the stop plate 41, which is the stop plate upon which the address plates rest when impressions are taken by the platen 70. The ink ribbon 73 extends up through openings 74 and 7 5 in the frame A- from ribbon spools 76 and 77, respectively. Guide bais 78 and 79 are provided in the opening 74 and 7 5, respectively, and are removably mounted in slots as at 80 and 81, formed in the frame -A, at each side of the opening 74 and 75.

The ribbon 7 3 except for the portion actually used, is covered bya plate 82 which is attached 'to the surface of the frame A by screws 83. Remaining portions of the guideway are covered by plates 84 and 85 in order to provide a smooth, flat surface upon which the cardsor'articles to be addressed may rest.

. A guide bar 86 adjustably positioned by means of the rods 87 and 88, mounted inbinding posts 89 and 90 serves to retain the articles which are being addressed in a. suitable position for imprinting the address in the desired location.

The plate 85 may-be provided with openings 91 through. which the address plates, as they are about to come into operative position, may be observed. l

The mechanism foradvancingthe ribbon 73 upon the spools 76 and 77 will now be described in detail. A supporting bracket 92 is fixed to the under side of the frame A- by screws 93 and 94. Spool shafts 95 and 96 are rotatably mounted in the bracket 92 and serve to support the spools 76 and 77, respectively. Bevel gears 97 and 98 arev also fixed upon the spool shafts 95 and 96, respectively, and are adapted to en-' gage bevel gears 99 and 100, which are mounted upon a slidable and rotatable shaft 101. The shaft 101 is slidably mounted on lugs 102 and 103, formed upon the bracket 92, m a manner to permit one or the other of the bevel gears 99 and to engage its corresponding bevel gear 97 or 98, dependmg upon which direction it is desired to wind the ribbon 73. A ratchet wheel 104 with a hub 105 which has a slot 106 engaged by the pin 107 is mounted on the shaft 101.

The ratchet wheel 104' is engaged by a pawl h 108 which is pivoted at 109- to the lever 21. The pawl 108 is retained in engagement with the ratchet'104 by gravity and each time that the lever 21 is oscillated in order to advance a new address plate, the pawl 108.. f.

serves to turn the ratchet wheel '104 through a distance equal to the spacing of the teeth thereon. Hence each time that a newaddress plate comes lIltO' operation, the ribbon 73 is also advanced a slighttamount from one of the ribbon spools to the other. 'As will readily be understood, when one-ofthe spools becomes filled, the shaft 101 may be shifted in order to wind the ribbon'upon the opposite spool. The shaft 101 is provided with a pair of annular grooves 110 and 111, which are adapted to be engaged by a spring pressed plunger 112 and thus serve to retain the shaft in either of its longitudinal positions.

The address mats are discharged from the machine at the front end of the frame -A- into the receiving rack '-E--'- which comprises a U-shaped member 113, which is con nected by a web 114 to a sleeve 115 which surroundsa screw rod 116. The screw rod 116 is journaled at its lower end in a bracket 117 and at its u per end in the frame A, as shown. A 0g 118 pivoted on lugs 119 formed on the sleeve 115 is held in engag ement at its pointed end with the screw rod 116 by the over-balancing weight of it; end 120. A bracket 121 is rotatably mounted on a reduced portion 122 of the screw rod 116 and is pivotally connected. by La link-123 to a stud 124, formed on the mat'feeder 13.

n; no]

A pawl 125 is pivoted at 126 to the bracket 121 and is held in engagement witha ratchet portion127 of the screw rod by as ring- 128. The reciprocating movement o the" '12s,

mat feeder '13 causes the bracket 121' to es cillate and permits the pawl 125 to rotate the screw rod 116 an amount equivalent to the distance between twoof the teeth on theratchet portion 127. I Whenthe machine is in use,theU-shaped1s9 U-shaped member 113 may then be accommachine, and means for rigidly supporting lished by simply pulling up on this mem )6! since the dog'118 is beveled, as shown in Fig. 2, in such a manner asto readily slide over the threads during the upward movement. A air of stop plates 129 and 130 are secure to the frame -A- as shown, to prevent overthrowing of the discharged mats and in order to keep the mats in alignment with each other.

' The frame or base member A- is provided at each corner with legs 131, which are terminated in suitable rubber cushions 132 in order to adapt the machine to be used upon any desired polished surface without injuring the polish.

While I have described one form of my invention it is understood that.I .do not desire to have any limitation imposed there- 'upon except as specifically set forth in the appended claims, or required by the prior art, since mechanical expedients or equivalents of the various elements may evolved which come within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States, is

1. In an address machine, a rack for receiving address plates as discharged from the machine, and meansfor rigidly supporting and progressively lowering said rack uniformly with the discharge of each address.

plate. I

2. In an address machine, a, rack for receiving address plates as discharged from the and rogressively lowering said rack uniform y with the discharge of each address plate, said rack being free to be manually returned'to elevated position.

3. In combination, a guideway fr om which objects are discharged at a constant level, a rack for receiving and retaining such objects in a stack, and means for positively supporting and progressively lowerin said rack uniformly with the discharge of each object in order to constantly maintain the top of the stack at substantially the level of said guideway.

4. In an addressing machine, a rack for receiving address plates as'discharged from the machine, and meansrengaging said rack and operative in conjunction with the machine for progressively lowering said rack uniformly with the discharge of each address plate, said rack bein free to be manually returned to elevated position, being automatically disengageable from said means while being returned.

5. In a device of the type described, an address plate guideway provided with a reciprocating element for advancing the address plates along said guideway, a rack for receiving address plates as discharged from said guideway, and means operated by said reciprocating element for progressively lowering said rack uniformly with the discharge of each address plate.

6. In a device of the type described, an address plate guideway provided with a reeliprocating element for advancing the adress stantia ly vertical threaded shaft, pawl and ratchet means operatively connecting said reciprocating element and said shaft for turning said shaft, a rack for receiving address plates as discharged from said guideway, and means on said rack coacting with said threaded shaft for progressively lowering said rack uniformly with the discharge of each address plate.

7. In a machine of the type described, a rack for receiving address plates as discharged from the machine, and a substantially vertical guideway formed in the machine for slidably retaining said rack, said rack being a substantially U-shaped member the upper ends of which engage said guideway and serve to support the address plates at their ends, said U-shaped member providing space to grasp the address plates for removal from said rack.

8. In an address machine, a rack for receiving address plates as discharged from the machine, a substantially vertical threaded shaft, means for turning said shaft, a sleeve formed on said rack and surrounding and sliding on said shaft, a dog mounted on said sleeve and engaging said threaded shaft.

9. In an address machine, a rack for receiving address plates as discharged from the machine, and means for rigidly supporting and progressively lowering said rack uniformly with the discharge of each address plate, said means comprising a threaded shaft which is rotatable in conjunction with the operation of the machine, a portion of said rack serving to engage .said threaded shaft.

10. In a device of the type described, a base member, an address )late guideway along the upper surface of said base member, a rack for receiving and retaining the address plates in a stack, and means within said base member for rigidly supporting and progressively lowering said rack uniformly lates along said guideway, a sub-' guideway,

with the discharge of each plate from said guideway in order to constantly maintain the top of the stack at substantially the level of the upper surface of said base member.

11. In a machine of the class described, a base member, an address plate guideway therein, a reciprocating address plate feed bar in said guideway, pawls mounted on said feed bar for advancing address plates along said guideway, and stop lates positioned at intervals along said gui eway forpreventing backward movement of the address plates, said stop plates being of an area and contour approximating the area and contour of the address lates.

12. In an ad ressing machine, an address plate guideway, a rack for retaining a stack of address plates above one end of said a reciprocating feed bar in said guideway, means on said feed bar for with. drawing with each reciprocationthe lowermost plate from the stack of address plates, and members carriedby said rack for locking the remaining plates in said rack. I

13. In an addressing machine, an address plate guideway, a rack for retaining a stack of address plates above one end of said guideway, a reciprocating feed bar in said guideway, means on said feed bar for withdrawing with each reciprocation the lowermost plate from the stack of address plates, and means operated by said reciprocating feed bar for retaining the remaining plates in said rack.

14. In an addressing machine, an address plate guideway, a rack for retaining a stack of address plates above one end of said guideway, a reciprocating feed bar in said .guideway, means on said feed bar for withdrawing with each reciprocation the lowermost plate from the stack of address plates, 9. spring clip for retaining the remaining plates in said rack, and means on said reciprocating feed bar for releasing said spring 15. In a machine of the class described,- a base member, an address plate guidewav therein, a, reciprocating address plate feed bar in said guideway; said feed bar having a longitudinal'slot, and pawls mounted within said slot for advancing address plates along said guideway.

16. An addressing machine comprising an impression arm, an address plate guideway, an address plate receiving rack, said rack being slidable to accommodate any predetermined number of plates therein, and means operatively Connected to said impression arm for advancing address plates to actuating position in said guideway and for sliding said rack.

17. An addressing machine comprising an impression arm, an address plate guideway, an address plate receiving rack, said rack being slidable to accommodate any predetermined number of plates therein, means operatively connected to said impression arm I for advancing address plates to actuating position in said guideway and for sliding said rack, and a releasing button on said arm for disconnecting said means at predetermined times.

' 18. An addressing machine comprising an impression arm, an'address plate guideway, an address plate receiving rack, said rack being slidable to accommodate any predetermined number of plates therein, a n ink ribbon winding device, and means operatively connected to said impression arm for advancing address plates to actuating position insaid guideway, for sliding said rack and for operatin said ribbon winding device, and a releasing button on said arm for disconnecting said means at predetermined times.

19. An addressing machine comprising a pivotally mounted impression arm, 9, iotatable member, means operatively connected to said member for automatically ad vancing address plates in the machine with each actuation of said arm, a dog on said arm for engaging a portion of said member for turning said member, and means for releasing said dog at predetermined times.

20. An addressing machine comprising a pivotally mounted impression arm, an operating handle on said arm, mechanism operatively connectedto said arm for automatically advancing successive address plates into actuating position with each actuation of said arm, and means mounted on said arm adjacent said handle for disconnecting said mechanism when more than one lmpression is desired from a particular address plate.

21. In an addressing machine, a rack for.

receiving address plates discharged from the machine, a substantially vertical threaded shaft, means for turning said shaft, a sleeve carried by the rack and slidably mounted on the rack, a dog mounted on the sleeve and engageable with said shaft, and means to prevent/the sleeve from turning with the shaft. a

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed myname.

JOHN E. JOHNSON. 

